BOISE, Idaho — The Boise State Broncos have fallen into third place in the Mountain West Conference after losing three of their last four games, all of those coming on the road.
But the Broncos return home this week for two games against UNLV and two more the following week against Utah State.
Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m. on Thursday when BSU hosts the Runnin' Rebels giving Boise State a chance to get back in the win column.
“Every team goes through a valley of death," said Boise State basketball coach Leon Rice. "Would you be talking about a peak and valley if Ray J’s shot had gone in? It’s a fine line so you don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
Ray J Dennis had a shot to beat Nevada last Friday and although he good a good look the shot rimmed out as time expired, Boise State lost by two.
Coach Rice also pointed at the free-throw line, earlier this year the Broncos went a perfect 25-25 in one game against San Jose State, this past weekend in two losses to Nevada they shot under 70 percent.
“There are two things that don’t last long dogs that chase cars and teams that can’t shoot free throws," said Rice. "We talked about a million things just now, but if we made 13 free throws we would have won, it can be as simple as that.”
Boise State's administration looked into moving these home games to the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, but that idea fell through.
“We are still hoping we can do that because I want these guys to have a college basketball experience," said Rice. "Our medical staff and our administration did a great job putting that together to give us that chance, it’s a shame we won’t get to do that.”
Boise State will likely not be able to do that next week against Utah State because of girl's state basketball tournament at the Ford Idaho Center.
But the Broncos do return to Extra Mile Arena where they haven't lost a game this season, this Broncos team also won 13 straight games this year which is a new school record and they have to play UNLV before they can think about next week.
